Nikola Pilić obit

Nikola Pilić, Novak Djokovic's Mentor, Has Passed Away

 He was not on the list.

The former German Davis Cup captain, Nikola Pilic, has passed away at the age of 86. Born in Split, Pilić, who later founded a tennis academy near Munich, was himself a successful professional tennis player: nine titles, including a final at the French Open in 1973 and a ranking of world No. 6. As a longtime captain, he led the German Davis Cup team to great successes, winning the title three times (1988, 1989, and 1993). Later, he repeated this achievement with Croatia (2005) and also with Serbia (2010). But that's not all, as Pilić was also one of Djokovic's first coaches (between the late 90s and early 2000s). Djokovic even describes him as the "father of tennis."

He was a Croatian professional tennis player who competed for SFR Yugoslavia.

Pilić was one of the Handsome Eight. Pilić was ranked world No. 6 in January 1968 and world No. 7 for 1967 by Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph.

Pilić was born in Split, Banovina of Croatia, Kingdom of Yugoslavia on 27 August 1939, to Krsto Pilić and Danica Tomić-Ferić.

The youngster took up tennis during the summer of 1952. Thirteen years of age at this point, he began practicing on the Firule tennis club clay courts in parallel to studying shipbuilding at the streamlined high school in Split. Upon graduating he attempted to enrol at a community college (viša škola) in Zagreb, but due to not meeting the entrance criteria ended up in Novi Sad where he studied government administration (viša upravna škola).

In 1964 he won the Moscow International Championships against countryman Boro Jovanović in five sets. Pilic reached the semifinals of Wimbledon in 1967, beating Roy Emerson. Then open tennis arrived and Pilić was one of the Handsome Eight, a group of players signed by Lamar Hunt in 1968 for the newly formed professional World Championship Tennis (WCT) group.

In 1970, Pilić won the Bristol Open or West of England Championships defeating Tom Okker in a long match, Graham Stilwell, Marty Riessen, John Newcombe in a close match, and Rod Laver in the final.

Also that season, Pilić won the men's doubles title at the US Open with his French partner Pierre Barthès by defeating the Australians John Newcombe and Rod Laver in four sets. His best singles performance at a Grand Slam tournament came in 1973 when he reached the final of the French Open, losing to Ilie Năstase in straight sets.

Pilić was the catalyst to the 1973 Wimbledon boycott. In May 1973, the Yugoslav tennis federation alleged that Pilić had refused to represent them in a Davis Cup tie against New Zealand earlier that month. Pilić denied the charge, but was suspended by the federation, and the suspension was upheld by the ILTF, albeit decreased from nine months to one month, meaning that he could not enter the Wimbledon Championships. In protest at the suspension, 81 of Pilić's fellow professionals, organized into the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), and including 13 of the 16 seeds, withdrew from the 1973 Wimbledon Championships.